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Thursday, 6 July 2017

KUALA LUMPUR: The industry briefing,
jointly organised by MyHSR Corp Sdn Bhd and Land Transport Authority of
Singapore (LTA), on the upcoming development of the 350km-long Kuala
Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail (HSR) attracted close to 400 participants from
165 local and international entities.

In a joint statement, MyHSR and LTA
said the briefing held yesterday in Singapore was a platform for the two governments
to provide the latest update on the regulatory requirements’ harmonisation for
parties interested in tendering for the upcoming assets company (AssetsCo). The
tender for the AssetsCo, the two agencies said, is targeted to be called by the
fourth quarter of this year.

“The briefing was also a platform to
encourage interested companies to form consortia to participate in the AssetsCo tender,” the two government
agencies said in a joint statement.

According to MyHSR and LTA, the
AssetsCo is responsible for designing, building, financing and maintaining all
rolling stocks and railway assets including track work, power, signalling and
telecommunications.

“The AssetsCo will also develop and
implement a network code, to coordinate the system’s network capacity for operations and maintenance
needs,” the two agencies added.

At the same time, both transportation
agencies said the AssetsCo tender will prioritise safety and security, availability and reliability,
proven technology, operations flexibility, customer-centric design, value for money and collaborative project
implementation as procurement objectives.

The agencies also provided the participants,
most of whom are within the HSR value chain, updates on the HSR’s progress including indicative
tender parameters and procurement processes.

The ambitious billion-ringgit HSR,
expected to complete by end-2026, will cut travelling time between Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia and Singapore to around 90 minutes from the usual five-hour
drive.

The HSR is expected to have eight stations,
with seven stops in Malaysia — in Bandar Malaysia, Putrajaya, Seremban, Melaka,
Muar, Batu Pahat and Iskandar Puteri — and one in Jurong East, Singapore.